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By Cristina Busu
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The autism workforce shortage is often discussed as a problem of access to care. I believe that framing is too narrow. When families cannot find enough qualified professionals, the consequences do not stop with the person with autism who needs support. They can affect a parent’s career, finances, relationships, mental health, and ability to participate in everyday life.
The scale of the need is significant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported in 2025 that about 1 in 31 eight-year-old children in its 2022 monitoring network had been identified with autism. At the same time, demand for some autism-related professionals continues to grow.
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board reported that U.S. job postings seeking Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) or Board Certified Behavior Analyst–Doctoral (BCBA-D) certification increased 28 percent from 2024 to 2025.
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A 2025 ANCOR survey also found that many community-based disability service providers continued to experience staffing shortages.
Those numbers matter because when professional support is unavailable, families often absorb the responsibility.
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Wider Impact on Families
In my experience, that can mean a parent reducing working hours, leaving a job, or reorganizing nearly every part of family life around caregiving. A 2024 study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders similarly identified challenges in balancing paid employment with ongoing caregiving responsibilities.
For families supporting people with autism who have more significant needs, even ordinary activities can become difficult. Grocery shopping, appointments, visiting friends, or simply leaving the house may require careful planning or another trusted person who understands the individual’s needs.
Delivery services and other conveniences may help with practical tasks, but they can also add costs and do little to address the isolation a caregiver may experience.
I believe this is why we need to stop viewing the workforce shortage only as a provider problem. It can become a family workforce problem as well.
When a parent who wants to work cannot do so because reliable support is unavailable, that loss extends beyond income. A parent does not stop being a professional, entrepreneur, artist, friend, or active member of the community because caregiving has become their primary responsibility. Yet without sufficient support, those other parts of a person’s life can become increasingly difficult to maintain.
Hidden Cost of Caregiving
The pressure can become particularly visible when a young person with autism leaves the school system. The CDC notes that the transition from high school into adulthood can create new challenges and that planning for appropriate services and support across the lifespan is important.
For some families, that transition raises a difficult question: What happens when the structure provided through school ends, but the individual’s need for support continues?
I do not believe families should be left to answer that question alone.
At the policy level, I believe the conversation should include workforce recruitment and retention, respite care, financial support, and smoother transitions into adult services.
Different communities may require different solutions, but family impact should be considered when those systems are designed and evaluated. A service may technically exist, but that does not necessarily mean every family can access appropriate help when they need it.
Compassionate Support System
Government action, however, is only part of the answer. Policy changes and workforce development take time. Communities can begin responding much sooner.
I believe one of the simplest places to start is with less judgment and more compassion.
When a child or adult with autism becomes distressed in public, people may not understand what is happening. The instinct should not be to criticize the parent or assume poor parenting. Sometimes the most helpful response is simply, “Are you okay?” or “Is there anything I can do to help?”
That may sound like a small gesture, but I believe small actions matter when someone already feels isolated. There is an important difference between empathy and compassion. Empathy allows us to recognize that another person is struggling. Compassion asks us to consider what we can actually do in response.
That response does not have to be dramatic. Friends can check in. Relatives can continue including families in social plans. Workplaces, faith communities, schools, and neighborhood organizations can ask how they might make their environments more welcoming. People can also learn more about autism so that unfamiliar behavior is met with greater understanding rather than immediate judgment.
None of these actions will solve the autism workforce shortage. We still need enough qualified professionals, accessible services, respite options, and better continuity of support as people with autism move into adulthood.
But while those larger systems improve, I do not believe families should be expected to carry the consequences alone.
The autism workforce crisis is not only about how many professionals are available. It is also about what happens to families when the support they need is not there. If we want to build a more supportive system, we need to consider both.
Cristina Busu is the founder of Help Hope Solutions, where she supports individuals with autism and the families and communities around them. The views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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